Lamp-wick.



Nn. 590,747. Patented 1an. 7, |902.

' E. s. MAcFua.

LAMP 4wick.

(Application med Mar. 11, 1901.)

(No Model.)

Wit I EEEEE.

UNITED STATES 'EDMU'ND s. MAcFmjor soUTHPoRT, ENGLAND.

LAM P-wlcK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 690,747, dated January 7, 1902. Application tiled March 11 1901. Serial No, 50,57- (No model.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern:

is to provide a wick of this material that will not become readily clogged up with carbonaceous substances or distillates.

Heretofore, so far as I am aware, all attempts to produce a satisfactory lamp-wick from asbestos have failed for the reason that they soon clog up and lose their capillary qualities. This I believe to be due, in-the'V main, to the use of asbestosrnill-board and asbestos charged with steatite, which is not of sufiiciently open texture to retain its capillarity and allow a suflicientIy-free flow of oil to the burning-point.

In carrying out my invention I employ the most fibrous kind of asbestos, free from steatite and formed looselyT in to a flattened rope or cord by preference. This rope or cord is coiled wiihin the annular wick-tube, but not so as to fill the same tightly, but, on the contrary, rather loosely, so that the 'oil may rise in the intersiices of the coils, as Well as in the interstices between the fibers. It is not so material to the invention just how the wick as a whole is arranged; but it is essential that the texture shall be loose and open, so as to provide ample interstices for the flow of oil.

In the drawings which serve to illustrate an embodiment of my invention I have shown it as applied to a Well-known form of lamp,

as I find this lamp admirably adaptedfor my improved Wick.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical axial section of the lamp; and Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, the same taken through the annular burner-tube and the wick coiled therein. Fig. 3 is a section similar to Fig. 1, illustrating a form of the wick slightly different from that seen in Figs'. l and 2.

In Figs. 1 and 2, A designates the lampbody; B, a series of pendent wicks which extend up through a series of tubes D, arranged in a circle and opening at their upper ends into an annular Wick-tube c, which is somewhat in the form of an annular trough about the central air-tube. The curved arrows in Fig. l show how the air is supplied in this form of lamp. In the wick tube or trough cis coiled theasbestos wick C. This wick is by preference in the form of a loosely formed and iattened cord, all in one length and coiled as shown, its upper surface rising slightly above the upper margin of the tubec. l. The wicks B may be also of asbestos or mineral fiber, and their upper ends, which enter the trough c, are spread or made brush-like, the wick C resting thereon. Preferably the Wick C will have its coils united an annulus or ring.

In Fig. 3 the annular wick Gis substantially the same as that of Fig. 1, but is made of a broaderl and more flattened cord or rope.

`In lboth cases the annular or ring-like wick should fit quite loosely in the wick-tube c, which in lamps of this kind usually contains a wick of carbon.

I do not limit myself to the use of a lamp of exactly this kind in connection with my wick. Any ordinary lamp of this general character may be altered and adapted to the wick I have described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim-'- 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a lamp-wick of fibrous, refractory mineral fiber, in the form of a iiattened rope or cord coiled intoa ring, the said cord being loosely twisted so as to insure ample capillary interstices for the oil, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with a circular series of pendent wicks, of a ring-like wick in operative contact with the upper end of said pendent wicks, said ring-like wick being coma posed of a coiled, loosely twisted or formed cord of asbestos fiber, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name, this 21st day of February, 1901, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

E. s. MACFIE.

by sewing, so as to form 

